We'll Work On It
by Foxtronic
Summary: Peter understands Wade is dangerous. He gets it, alright? Wade kills people, (not around Spider-Man) he does it for money and he doesn't care what people think about it. But Peter tries not to be a hypocrite, and yeah, while he knows Wade could probably kill him, spidey-sense or not, if he wanted to. He wouldn't. And that's really all Peter needs right now.
1. What Makes a Hero?

Peter Parker ( _Also known as Spider-Man_ ) knows Wade Winston Wilson ( _Also known as Deadpoo_ l) is dangerous.

He knows that he's a murderer, knows that taking a life means nothing to Wade. Knows that the only reason the merc doesn't kill in his city is because Peter, _Spider_ - _Man_ asked him not to. He knows the types of jobs Wade takes and he knows _exactly_ what he does on them. None of it is hidden from him and they've had the same arguments about these exact same topics over and over throughout the years. Wade has never been embarrassed about what he does and he's never shy'ed away from letting Peter know exactly what he was getting into with their friendship.

So none of this information is new.

But.. Wade doesn't bring what he does and who he is when he's doing those things to back to New York. He's never the dangerous psychopath around Peter. He's not cold like the rumors Peter hears them say he is, he's not cruel or gleeful about murder like the other Supers tell him. Wade just isn't like that with Peter. They've been friends, _best friends_ for longer then Peter's been Spider-Man by now.

He'd thought, maybe, that everyone might be exaggerating just a little bit. Not intentionally, but Wade pisses enough people off that it wouldn't surprise him if the people who hired him beefed up his reputation a bit, if for no other reason than because they were.. embarrassed? He doesn't really know what he was thinking, other then that the Deadpool Peter had always known hadn't ever been anything like the _Deadpool_ whispered about when they found out Wade was his friend.

And yeah, maybe it made the other Supers look at him warily when Peter confirmed with them that, _yes, he is_ _very much Wade's friend as well,_ and _no it's not because he has to be._

And maybe some of his Rogue's gallery always decide they don't want to fight Spider-Man the days Deadpool teams up with him, but those were all such small things. Little things buried under Taco Tuesday, a large, strong arm over his shoulder companionably, a smacked hand going down to his ass when he thought Peter wasn't looking, Video game marathons and introducing Wade to the horror/delight that was Let's Plays.

It had just never made any _sense_.

Because _why_ would a World Class Mercenary, The World's _**Best**_ Mercenary if all the things whispered when no one thinks he's paying attention behind his back were true, want anything to do with Spider-Man? Yeah, he was a Hero, sure. But he wasn't one of the big Hero's. He mainly protected New York from petty crime, and only helped out in the big battles when the others had no other choice but to call him. Most of the other Supers didn't even _like him_ andeven the ones who did thought he was to flippant for Super Hero-ing, to unprofessional, to _young_ ( _never mind that he's been doing this since he was 16, longer then even Tony Starks been Iron Man. It doesn't matter to them when he looks so young)_

The worst he has to deal with is the low-level Super-Villains that couldn't make it in the big leagues. (And Venom. And _Carnage_ but the less said about those two the better.)

So anything the others told him was always met with a vague feeling that they just didn't know Wade the way he did. Didn't understand the sharp but ultimately kind man under all his issues. Because that was one thing Peter knew the others never exaggerated.

Wade had issues, big horrible issues but that was kinda a requirement to get into the Super community at this point. He wouldn't be able to point to one Super, be they Villain, Hero, or somewhere in-between and say with certainty that they were completely emotionally stable.

It just wasn't true.

You had to be a special type of person to put on a suit, or a mask and try and change the world. For Good or Evil

They were all messed up in some way, Deadpool just didn't make any type of excuse for it. He was what he was and if Peter didn't realize it (the way one person had pointedly told Peter at some point. _"Naive." she had sneered at him, "Naive and optimistic. Your going to get yourself killed. ")_ then he at least accepted it. And that was more the Peter could say for most of the people they knew. The sad truth was that most Supers killed, even when they didn't want to, didn't mean to.

It was just something you had to accept or it would destroy you. Even he'd- even he'd killed people in his career. It was never intentionally, never something he did knowingly or willingly but it had happened. It was horrible and it kept him up more nights then not when he consciously remembered.

Flashes of faces he had loved but failed, eyes looking out to him for help but he wasn't quick enough to react, the terror some of the thugs he'd fought had on their faces as they realized how very _inhumanly_ strong he was, all of it haunted him.

He might have denied that at one point when he'd first became Spider-man but he'd been through so much, lost so many people, met even more who weren't _good_ in the traditional sense but who tried _so damn hard_ to not be _bad_ , that thinking in only black and white just wouldn't work anymore.

He still had faith in people, he knew he'd never be able to kill with the righteousness that Ironman and Captain America seemed to project, then turn around and act like they were better than people like Deadpool.

He just didn't have it in him anymore to be such a hypocrite.

But to get back to what he was saying before getting distracted on what made a Hero, he knows that Wade is dangerous. Know that people think of him more as an Anti then as a Hero, but he'd never seen Deadpool the ways others do. Never seen the Merc with the Mouth work as the _Merc with the Mouth_.

So seeing Wade here, right now, seething quietly in the corner of his cell is disturbing. Wade doesn't _not talk_ , he doesn't stay still somewhere quietly no matter what's happening. Hell, Peter's seen the man mock a goddamn Hydra scientist while all his limbs wiggled around him on the ground. The idiot doesn't know the meaning of Shut the Hell Up.

But apparently he does because the silence is much more ominous than any type of threat Peter's ever heard Wade make. And Peter's heard a lot of very annoyed, creative insults through the years.

"W-hat sort of t-time do you call thisssss?" His voice comes out shredded and Peter has to resist the urge to swallow reflexively, because he knows all that will do is irritate his already fucked throat. Wade doesn't even twitch from his scratchy question.

His eyes, or at least what Peter assumes are his eyes since Wade's not moving his head, are still scanning the horror that is his body stretched out languidly on the lab table.

Peter takes a deep breath and tries to say his name, get him to respond but nothing happens, his voice won't come out and that's when it really hits him how very fucked he is if Wade's gone into another one of his catatonic states with his Boxes. He can't talk Wade out of it like this, not with the way his voice won't work and with the way he's chained down he won't even be able to go towards him.

Peter tries to jingle his wrists, tries to slip out of them or hell, even break them in a way he hasn't for days now. Not sense they decided to see how far his healing went when when skinned. The rattles of the vibranium chain draws Deadpool's attention the way Peter's voice, as weak as it had been hadn't been able to, and the man seems to tense even more. But he does start moving which is all Peter can ask for at the moment.

He won't be able to get out of this alone and he's too tired to be Spider-Man unless he has to be.

Deadpool's hands, when he touches Peter wrists are considerate in a way Peter knows he only acts around him. They trail down the scars of where the skin had been peeled and then healed with Peter's own regenerating power but didn't quite met as smoothly where his original skin is.

Soon Wade's questing fingers are on the swollen joints of his shoulder, purple from being popped in and out of place over and over, down to his neck which Peter knows holds a scar across his neck going down his chest, and criss crossing on either sides of his ribs. He knows that Deadpool knows what those scars mean, knows that they had to have cut him open at one point, peeling back muscle and fat to get to the bones and organs underneath.

Peter can't read Deadpool's expression through his mask, a rarity after being friends for so long, but he's so gentle when that single hand cups his bruised cheek, knows he's safe when those strong arms rip the chains from the wall, all without moving Peter an inch. Knows he is the safest person in the world when Deadpool lifts him like he's a delicate, precious thing and just breaths into his hair. Even covered in the entirety of the Hydra bases blood, Peter knows he's safe.

Because yes, Peter Parker- _Spider-Man,_ knows Deadpool is dangerous. Knows it fully and in all it's truth from watching on the monitors in front of his dissection table, as Wade had single handedly slaughtered his way through the base, that Wade Winston Wilson is dangerous. So much more dangerous than Peter had ever realized, knows that if the other Supers were right in this, they were probably right on everything else they'd said about Wade behind his back.

Peter understands that.

But he also knows something the others don't, something they'll probably never realize while they judge Wade on who he is and what he does.

Peter knows that Wade would never be just Deadpool to him. He would never only be that psycho killer that everyone tried so hard to warn Peter about in the beginning.

"Hey, Baby boy." Wade's voice is soft as he carries Peter out of the room he's been in since he was ambushed. "Sorry it took so long, the traffic was terrible. You would not _beeeeee-live_ how many cars I had to jack just to find the right one." But his eyes (and when had he taken his mask off anyways?) never leave Peter's face. Their intensity, if he hadn't known Wade so very well, would have been intimidating.

Peter can't help but laugh, a raspy, bloody sound that has Wade's eyes turning into pretty blue ice and a snarl tugging at his lip, "Oh, Ow. N-no making me l-laugh-h-h-h- at Doc-ctor Who Ref- Ref- Refrenc- Things." He can't help it, _of course_ Wade would know what he was talking about, even when he's so far down in his madness induced fury that their stepping on and over the corpses of the men who's decided it was time to experiment on Spidey.

"Sorry honey-bun, no can do. Gotta make sure those pretty doe eyes of yours stay open. Who knows what might happen if I don't fire back on your witty remarks! We could lose our comic! We could lose each other, spidey-babe! And believe you-me, you do _not_ want to see what I turn into without my very own Arachnid-Boy." Wade's voice lifted even higher in a venom filled sing-song tone, one Peter normally only heard when Carnage tried to take a bite out of him, or when Clint stole the last slice of pizza in the Avengers fridge. "No one does."

Yes, Peter thinks as he passes out, Wade's roar of terror in the backdrop an annoying but comforting sound. Deadpool may be just as dangerous as everyone had always told him, but he'd never been dangerous to Peter.

They'd work on the rest of it later.


	2. Let's Start at the Beginning

_I didn't know I was lonely 'til I saw your face_  
 _I wanna get better, better, better, better,_  
 _I wanna get better_  
 _I didn't know I was broken 'til I wanted to change_  
 _I wanna get better, better, better, better,_  
 _I wanna get better_

 **-x-**

When Peter first meets Deadpool he's practically ancient by superhero standards.

He was one of the first Heroes on the scene when the Villains seemed to pop up all at once. It's years before Tony Stark gets lost in Afghanistan, years before Captain America gets found and unfrozen, years before SHIELD becomes mainstream knowledge, years before Banner becomes the Hulk and years before he knows he's not alone.

He's a fourteen year old kid who gets bitten by a radioactive spider, fails to save a man who'd been more of a father to him then his original one had ever gotten to be, ends up having to fight his best friend turned super villain and watches the love of his life die falling from a tower. He's just a kid and by the time the other Supers catch up, he's been Spider-Man for close to seven years. He's one of the youngest, even with all his experience, of the larger names.

Which is something he can admit he is. People know him, _trust_ him because he is one of the most visible, most human Heroes they have. It's hard to think of a guy as anything but that, no matter what powers he has, when they've basically watched him grow up in the suit.

Spider-Man is a Hero of the People more than almost anyone else. His presences is practically as much of a tourist trap as the Statue of Liberty is now. (His favorite piece of merch is the **_'I Came All The Way To New York And All I Saw Was a Crappy Spider-Man Fight'_ **T-shirt. He has 10 of them, all in different sizes and colors because they're amazing and he loves them.)

But even though he's one of the youngest in years, the other Supers all getting their Tragic Backstories done and over with in their late twenties, early thirties, he's one of the oldest in terms of sheer _time_ he's spent in the suit compared to most of the community. Spider-Man has fought most of the world's Villains _at least_ once before they all moved on to their own _personal_ Heroes to beef with.

It's how he comes to know such interesting people. It's why he has such grey friends. When you've worked as long as he has, been in the mask for what feels like longer then you'd been out of it, it's hard to not make friends with people you shouldn't.

It's how he met **Deadpool**.

He hadn't even really heard about the Merc to begin with. It had started when he'd been told by the civilians he saved from purse snatching and the Ike, about how there was a discount Spidey running around. It had been hilarious for Peter in the beginning. He'd assumed it was some young mutant that wanted to take on a similar name as him, maybe in homage? Maybe to mock him? Kids in New York could go either way and that's one of the reasons why Peter loved his city.

But he'd thought it was harmless, another new Super keeping the training wheels of an already confirmed Hero on until they'd gotten enough confidence to go their own way. He'd keep an eye out for them, try to see if they needed any help but he wouldn't interfere if they didn't want him to.

Then the bodies started to show up and Peter realized that whatever this was, it wasn't a new Hero earning their wings.

—

Deadpool had been nothing like he'd expected when Peter had finely tracked the Merc down. He was friendly when he wasn't trying to shoot his target, seemed genuinely upset when Peter hadn't been able to dodge a slice of his katana fast enough, hilarious in a way Peter had never met someone other then himself be, fucked up to the extreme in the head and after an intense, deadly game of keep away ( _With Deadpool's mark as the ball_ ) throughout the city, completely willing to compromise when he wanted to.

Deadpool ( " _Wade actually, but you can call me Daddy, Baby Boy!"_ _Who gives their real name out when first meeting someone? Peter sure as hell wasn't reciprocating that strange mark of trust any time soon_ ) agreed to no more contracts in Spider-Man's city.

They'd had tacos after that, sitting on the rooftop of some ridiculously tall building and making each other laugh so hard at awful puns that Wade had almost fallen off the tower. It had been the first night of a truly awful ( _for everyone else_ ) friendship.

—

Months went by and Tony Stark came back from Afghanistan as Iron Man, more Supers hit the map seemingly everywhere with their own personalized Villain, either trailing after them or sprinting on ahead when the forming community of 'Heroes' found out _Spider_ - _Man_ had both befriended **Deadpool** and somehow convinced the insane mercenary to stay out of New York when taking jobs.

It had gone over about as well as a bathtub full of cats when the water turned on, which is to say, not at all.

At first they'd demanded that Spider-Man man stop socializing with Deadpool. When all that'd gotten them was a snort and wave while he slung away they'd tried other tactics.

They'd tried to press on his age, on how he was being childish with his naïve wish for Deadpool to change. On how that just wasn't how the world worked, that bad guys didn't just change into good guys because we want them to.

 _That_ conversation had gone over almost was well as the news about Deadpool and Spider-Man's friendship. Peter had been pissed, never mind that he'd been a Hero longer than any of them, but that they'd have the _nerve_ to condescend down at him like he wasn't an adult, like he _hadn't_ been saving the world long before the Avengers even had their entire team together.

He'd been so mad in fact, that he'd webbed the two that had tried to corner him in the library and left them there for two days before telling anyone where they were at.

When he'd told Wade that story over dinner-so-what-it's-4am-who-the-fuck-cares-Wade-I-swear-to-god-you-better-give-me-my-damn-burger-back-or-they-will- _never_ -find-your-dick-when-I-chop-it-off-and-shut-up-I-know-you-can-grow-it-back-that's-not-the- _point_ , the man had ended up choking on his milkshake so hard he'd fallen backwards out of the chair he'd been trying to balance.

(He'd also had something like awe in his eyes, or something very similar looking on his impossibly emotive mask. Peter hadn't wanted to look to deeply on _why_ such a look made him what to squirm in his seat just from being under it.

They hadn't talked about it again, but sometimes Wade would get the same look in his eyes when he watched Peter go head to head with the entirety of The Avengers. Peter had learned it was better to be assertive with the other Supers or they would end up trying to live your life for you and Peter didn't abandon people just because it might be _convenient._ That was also around the same time Wade had started to treat him... differently. )

—

The third time it happened was completely unprofessional and it pissed _Deadpool_ off almost as much as it pissed _Spider-Man_ off.

It had been a normal Wednesday night and Spider-Man had been friends with Deadpool for close to two years. The other Supers had mainly stopped trying to get him to stop associating with Wade, but the attempts that did still happen had been slowing down the longer Peter ignored them. He'd had a indistinct wish that maybe they'd all finally given up and left him alone.

That thought had been quickly tossed out when the Green Goblin had shown up, flying by on his hover board (what was his life where that was a sentence he could say and _actually_ _mean it_ ) and trying to terrorize the civilian population below.

Peter had shot a web out at the Goblin, grabbing on to the back and being flung after him. Deadpool whooped excitedly behind him and Peter knew he'd catch up at some point. He'd be heart broken not to fight one of Spider-Man's ' _original baddies!_ ' as Wade called The Green Goblin, with him.

Everything had been going normally at first, Deadpool had caught up some time during the fight, rubber bullets smacking into the Goblins head every time he almost cornered Spider-Man and the banter they had going, completely ignoring the increasingly annoyed Goblin, was beautiful in its ability to confuse everyone _but_ each other.

But that's when it had all gone to hell. Iron Man and the Hulk (still as Bruce Banner) landed behind Peter drawing his attention, because what the hell? Who just goes into another's blind spot like that? When the Goblin had seen his chance to finally be rid of his 'Arch Nemesis' for once and for all.

The Goblin had stuck a pumpkin bomb straight on Peter's face like the mother-of-dicks he was, and cut Peter's web away from his board. He'd shot off after that, Peter to concerned with the _bomb on his face_ to care about the Goblin getting away.

Peter knew how long he had until it went off, knew that he had to make a choice between keeping his identity a secret and dying horribly in fire because his old friend decided to be a Halloween themed villain with stupid pumpkin shaped bombs.

Iron Man was yelling at him to take his mask off, Bruce was trying to calm him down, Peter himself has been close to a panic attack, because of all the people who he could have knowing his identity, Tony Stark would be one of the last ones he'd want to ever find out, when Deadpool had come swooping down out of nowhere to jerk both their masks off, transferring his over Peter's head before anyone (himself included) had time to see more then longish brown hair.

He then threw the bomb-ified mask at Iron Man who disarmed it, stalking up to two of the _very famous_ Avengers demanding why he hadn't done that when it had still been on _Spideys_ _fucking face._

Peter had been too shaken on his almost unmasking that he hadn't realized until Wade almost screamed it, that Tony could have disarmed the bomb at any point instead of demanding he take his mask off.

But he'd wanted leverage. They all needed some type of leverage on Spider-Man, some way to control him if they 'had to' for his 'own good.' Power that Peter had done his damnedest to never let them have over him. Spider-Man's identity was one of the best kept secrets _**on the globe** _at that point in time, Wade had told him stories on the millions that even a hint of his identity could go for.

And this.. ALL of this was way Peter couldn't stand most of the rest of them. Why most of his friends and contacts weren't called Heroes, but Vigilantes. Why no matter what they called him he'd take being one of them over being one of the Heroes any day.

They all might want to help people, but for most of the Hero community it was all on their own terms. Never mind that they didn't need his identity to work with him, didn't need his face to know he was trustworthy, they wanted it. Even if it meant sacrificing something that wasn't even theirs to _give_.

Wade had been furious. Tony had been defensive and when it came out _why_ Iron Man had decided to come help Spider-Man with Green Goblin, they'd both been speechless.

Apparently, Deadpool didn't count as backup against a villain Spider-Man had fought _alone_ for _years_.

Peter ended up having to drag Wade away using his full inhuman strength when the Merc had tried to stab Tony. But not before he crushed the Iron Man helmet bare handedly and told Tony very simply that he could take care of himself and that if he ever needed more backup he would call for it.

 _Do **not** come before that Tony, or I swear to god you won't like the end results. If I need help, I'll call you._

Their working and personal relationship after that had taken a nosedive. Not that Peter had cared by that point.

—

The very last time it happens is when the Avengers as a whole give him an ultimatum. Either stop talking to Deadpool or give up his Hero title.

And that was... it's ridiculous, is what it is. Tony's got his arms crossed over his chest, the picture of Fatherly disapproval while the others (most of the others anyway, he can't see Thor or Clint here so they _do_ still have friends in the Avengers, which is nice to know) stand behind him awkwardly.

Peter honestly thinks it's a joke at first. They can't be serious, he can't actually think that Peter _needs_ the Avengers permission to be a Hero. But the look on Tony face and the iron in Steve's eyes are completely genuine. They definitely mean it.

Sometimes it amazes Peter on how willfully blind humans can be. It's honestly insane that these two think they have any type of say in his life. If Peter hadn't been prepared to do things he wasn't supposed to do, he would have never gotten the idea to put on a spandex suit and try to help people. Peter _is_ Spider-Man, Peter is who Spider-Man will always be, so if _Peter_ doesn't need their permission to do what he does, _Spider-Man_ sure as hell doesn't.

So he laughs.

Right in their faces he laughs so hard he can feel tears in the corner of his eyes, soaking into his mask. It's just.. the nerve of these people, the sheer hypocrisy that Peter's sure they can't see. This is exactly why most of his friends and acquaintances were all more Anti than Hero.

It's _hilarious._

The reason this is the last time they all try to convince Peter to stop seeing Wade is because the moment the silence drags on slightly longer than their all comfortable with, and Tony starts to get that look in his eyes like he's won, Peter, _Spider-Man_ drops down from the ceiling and starts rummaging around to drop whatever he has on him with a Stark logo at their feet.

As the others look on with apprehension, Tony face says he knows exactly where this is going. So it's to everyone's surprise but his, when Peter takes the headset Tony had given him at some point and crushes it under his heel before silently web-swinging away.

His answer is loud and clear in the silence that follows his exit

Spider-Man doesn't need permission to be a Hero, he never asked for it, because when he'd first gotten his powers it never would have been approved.

So Peter learned not to ask.

It's later that same night when Wade appears silently behind him. Peter doesn't react because sometimes Wade will come to see him and just stare. He won't say a word to Peter, just talk to his boxes about whatever's going on in that play deck of a head of his.

Peter knows better than to try and address him when he's like this, knows that somehow the sight of Peter is enough to quiet some of the voices more violent impulses in his head. So he just sits there for a long time, letting Wade get his feel of watching Peter before he comes over and gathers him into his arms.

Wades hugs are always warm, his body's so big that whenever the man wants to, he can pick Peter up and just cradle him for however long he needs to reaffirm that Peter is _alive,_ that he's not a hallucination, and that Wade can just be Wade when their together.

But this hug feels different from all the other ones Wade's given him before. It's the same tight hold he has when he's not sure whats real and what's not, but the hand in his hair is new, and it makes something inside him quiver when Wade ducks down to bury his face in Peter's neck.

He's shaking just a little bit, and Peter doesn't know what to do when it hits him. Wade had been planning to pick him up from the Avengers Tower that night, but if he'd gotten there after Peter had already left, he'd want to know what happened.

And if the Avengers had told him what'd happened, probably to try and get help from his side, then Wade would know about the ultimatum.

And Peter's answer to it.

It really is to bad for them that Wade was a possessive person to the few things he liked in the world. Deadpool was surprisingly loyal as a Mercenary for hire, but it was common knowledge that when he gave his heart, gave his _loyalty,_ he gave everything.

Peter is just enough of a dick to understand the intent behind The Avengers telling Wade what happened and find the humor in how _ironic_ it is that they happened to talk to the _one man_ who would never help with this, who wouldn't try and make Peter's decisions for him. It's horrifyingly funny that a man who kills others for a living understands Peter's autonomy better than Heroes who are _supposed_ to be all about what's right.

It's not perfect, _they're_ not perfect. They still fight about Wade's job and they fight about Wade spending money on Peter, about Peter going out and fighting Carnage alone, about Peter ignoring the larger Hero community whenever they did something he didn't like but all-in-all, their good.

The rest they could work on.


End file.
